5.2 Viewing and Accessing Server Console Screens

After you start the server, the System Console screen and the Logger screen are available at the server console by default. Several other screens might be available depending on your server setup, such as the NetWare GUI screen or screens for utilities that are running at the server console.

Some NLM™ programs have console screens associated with them. If you load one of these NLM programs, then the console screen associated with it is automatically activated and available at the server console.

The following table shows what to do to view or access the available console screens.

Table 5-3 Viewing or Accessing Server Console Screens

To

Action

View a list of screens that are running at the server console

Press Ctrl+Esc on the server keyboard.

View a specific screen

Press Ctrl+Esc to view the Current Screens list, then enter the number for the screen you want to view.

Or, press Alt+Esc on the server keyboard, and then continue to hold Alt down and tap Esc until the screen you want to access is displayed.

Use the title bar at the top of the screen for navigation.

When the X Server--Graphical Console (Server GUI) is displayed, you must release the keys and start over.

Hide a specific screen

Press Ctrl+Esc to view the Current Screens list and learn the screen name for the screen you want to hide.

Enter the HIDESCREEN screen_name command at the System Console prompt.

NOTE:The hidden screens are indicated by an asterisk before screen name in the Current Screens list.

Restore a hidden screen

Press Ctrl+Esc to view the Current Screens list, then enter the number for the screen name you want to restore.

NOTE:The hidden screens are indicated by an asterisk before screen name in the Current Screens list.

You can also restore a screen by entering the SHOWSCREEN screen_namecommand at the System Console prompt.

This section also includes the following information:

5.2.1 System Console Screen

The System Console screen is item 1 in the Current Screen list. From this screen, you can view the current messages sent to the server. At the System Console prompt, you can

  • Enter commands to load or unload any NLM programs to the server.

  • Execute console commands.

  • Change Set parameter values.

  • View the history of messages sent to this screen.

  • Save the contents of this screen to a file.

To view the functionality of this screen, press F1 for the online help.

Scrolling

The System Console screen is scrollable and you can navigate it using the following keys:

Table 5-4 Navigating the System Console Screen

Key

Moves the Cursor

Ctrl+Down-arrow

One line down on the screen.

Ctrl+Up-arrow

One line up on the screen.

End

To the last entry on the screen.

Home

To the first entry on the screen.

PgDn

One page down on the screen.

PgUp

One page up on the screen.

To disable this functionality, enter the SERVER -CS command when you start the server or add it to the autoexec.bat file to disable scrolling permanently.

Executing Console Commands

To execute a command at the System Console screen, type the command and its parameters and then press Enter.

The System Console retains a history or buffer of the commands that you have entered at the System Console screen. Therefore, if you have recently entered a command, you can press the Up-arrow key or Down-arrow key to recall the command and execute it again by pressing Enter when the command appears at the System Console prompt.

The amount of commands retained in the command history buffer varies and depends on the length of the commands entered. The command history buffer is flushed when you restart the server or disable the history.

To disable the command history buffer, press the F10 key while viewing the System Console screen. When the commands are not recallable, the System Console prompt changes from a colon (:) to a special character (Special character symbol).

To resume saving the console command history, press F10 again while viewing the System Console screen. The command prompt returns to a colon (:).

Saving the Console Screen History to a File

The messages that are displayed on the System Console screen are normally saved to the conlog file. However, the information that is displayed during the boot process is not captured in the conlog file.

If you want to save this information to a file, you can save it by pressing the F2 key while viewing the System Console screen. The information is saved to the console.txt file in the server startup directory.

If you want to save the file to a different location, you can specify a different location using the Loggerpath command. For more information on using this command, see Loggerpath in NW 6.5 SP8: Utilities Reference.

You can also save the information to the file using the consolesave command. Using this method can be useful if you want to schedule the saving of this file on a regular basis by using cron or the Schedule Task feature in Novell Remote Manager. See Scheduling Tasks to Run at the Server in the NW 6.5 SP8: Novell Remote Manager Administration Guide.

For more information on the consolesave command, type help consolesave at the System Console prompt.

5.2.2 Logger Screen

The Logger screen is item 2 in the Current Screen list. Most messages and alerts are sent to the Logger screen. This screen is scrollable, searchable, and its contents can be saved to a file.

To access a list of commands for scrolling, saving the buffer to a file, and searching content in the buffer, press F1 while viewing the Logger screen.

To clear the contents of the buffer, press F5 while viewing the Logger screen.

Searching the Logger Screen Buffer for Information

The Logger screen maintains a buffer or log of the messages sent to the server console. You can search this buffer of information in two ways:

  • Using the lss command from the System Console prompt

  • Using View History Buffer link in Novell Remote Manager.

Using the LSS Command from the System Console Prompt

To search the Logger screen buffer:

  1. At the System Console prompt, enter LSS.

  2. Type the information you want to search for, such as LAN or a message string.

    If the text is found, the console switches to the Logger screen and positions the line containing the search string in the middle of the screen unless it is at the bottom of the buffer.

    If the text is not found, a message is returned containing the text searched for.

  3. (Optional) Press F3 to find the next occurrence of the text searched without returning to the server console screen.

  4. (Optional) Return to the System Console prompt to enter a new string.

Using View History Buffer Link Novell Remote Manager

To search the Logger screen buffer:

  1. In Novell Remote Manager, click Console Screens under the Manage Server heading in the navigation frame > View History Buffer.

  2. Using the search or find feature of your browser, enter the information you want to search, such as LAN or a message string.

Saving the Contents of the Logger Buffer Screen

You can save the contents of the logger screen to the logger.txt file using several methods:

Method 1

At the System Console prompt, enter loggersave.

Method 2

While viewing the logger screen at the server console, press F2 on the console keyboard.

The logger.txt file is saved by default to the server startup directory (c:\nwserver).

You can change where this file is saved by using the loggerpath = pathname command. If the path does not exist, it is created. You can change the path to any directory on volume sys: or the boot drive.

For example: loggerpath = sys:\loggerscreen

Method 3

You can also save the file using the tool in the Server GUI console:

  1. View the file in the Server GUI.

    1. Click the Console Log icon.

    2. Click Screens > Logger.

  2. Click File > Save As.

  3. Browse to the directory where you want to save the file.

  4. Enter a filename, such as logger.txt, and click Save.

If you want to append the file to a previously existing file, you can also do this using the Server GUI:

  1. View the file in the Server GUI.

    1. Click the Console Log icon.

    2. Click Screens > Logger.

  2. Click File > Append.

  3. Browse to the file that you want to append the information to, then click Save.

Changing the Default Size of the Logger Screen Buffer

The default size of the logger screen buffer is 240 KB. This represents about 55 screens full of data. You can decrease or increase the size of the buffer anywhere from 192 KB to 1024 KB.

To change the size of the buffer from the default, enter the following command when loading the server: server -ls desired_size

For example, server -ls 1024

IMPORTANT:This setting is not stored in the NetWare registry.

If you want this buffer size every time the server comes up, edit the load line in the c: autoexec.bat or config.nw file to add these parameters to the server load line.

For example:

c: cd \nwserver server -ls1024

NOTE:When entering the command to change the buffer screen size, you can use either -ls1024 or -ls 1024.

5.2.3 X Server--Graphical Console

The default screen that is shown when the server is started is the X Server--Graphical screen unless you have disabled it.

The X Server--Graphical Console, also known as the server GUI lets you access and run the Java applications listed.To access the list, click Novell on the Graphical Console.

Table 5-5 Tasks and Procedures for the X Server Graphical Console

To

Action

Load this screen if you have disabled it

At the System Console prompt, enter startx

Close this screen from the GUI menu

Click Exit

Close this screen using the server keyboard keys

Press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace

5.2.4 Emergency Console

The Emergency Console can be useful when the server console seems to hang.

From this console, you can:

  • Shut down the file server and exit to DOS

  • Abort a volume mount

  • Open a new console screen to issue the necessary commands, such as unloading modules.

Table 5-6 Tasks and Procedures for the Emergency Console

To

Action

Access this screen

On the server keyboard, press Ctrl+Alt+Esc

Exit this screen

On the server keyboard, press Esc

Close additional screens opened by the Emergency Console

At the Emergency Console prompt of each screen, enter BYE